Organ Pipes

Ben has been talking about driving to Organ Pipes National Park for the last month and a half as if we didn't do it NOW it would never happen. So when the Queen gave us the day off on Monday, we decided What better time? We are fortunate here in the state of Victoria to have quite an extensive national and state park system, some of the best in all of Australia, which is saying a lot in a country the size of the United States.

The one-hour drive was easy enough - not a lot of traffic it being a holiday - and upon arrival, we discovered what has to be the smallest national park in the world. Teeny-tiny-ness notwithstanding, we hiked the entire place in an hour and had a fun time doing it. And as always, the Australian wildlife was on hand to up the excitement.

"Hey, what's over there in the bushes?"

Supposedly wallabies are shy. Not this old man. He was there at the beginning of the trail and he was still chilling out in the same spot an hour later as we were leaving. It was nice to finally get to witness a whole specimen after all the retreating tails we've seen.

Satisfaction. We can tick this place off our list.

Check out that fabulous rock formation behind the chick with the absolutely horrific hair!

Rosette Rock

Abe being Abe.

Hank being Hank.

Tessellated pavement. Pretty cool stuff.

No. I am not pregnant. Unfortunately, some jackets create that appearance. Just thought I'd get that out there for those of you that continue to wonder.

Hey, aren't those kids good looking?

So it was a nice morning. Seeing the wallaby was a good thing (we saw some roos as well, but heck, they're everywhere and not shy at all) as we were disappointed once again by the no-show platypus and echidna. WE WILL FIND YOU SOMEDAY. Mark my words.

It's Good to Be the Queen

Crown forged by Abe.

It's funny the things you learn moving to a Commonwealth country. Like that the Queen's birthday is a national holiday. So today we did what any good Australian (or Australian wannabees) did and took the day off work and school and just had a day of play and adventure.

Thanks for that, Betty.

Of course, June 13th is not really Her Highness's birthday, but I suppose when you're royalty, you can adjust the national calendar to suit your whims. Back in January, Ben and I decided that three birthdays (his, mine, and Hank's) within a month of each other and just after the holidays was a little too much cake in such a short time when the rest of the year - aside from Abe's birthday in September - was empty. So we took a page from Her Majesty's book and readjusted our own plans to fill in the mid-year cake drought.



Give over, Betts.
There's a new queen in town.

Another season

Whelp, it seems that winter is upon us. The month of May has been unseasonably cold, almost like we skipped autumn altogether. Which is fine, given that I still feel like we should be heading into summer, seeing as how June 1st is tomorrow. So with that in mind, since I haven't gotten around to it yet, let's talk about our "Spring" break and Easter, shall we?

"SPRING" BREAK

Actually, more like fall break in the US, only it's two weeks long. We decided it was prime time to go on our first big Australian adventure, so we turned to one of the greatest attractions in the entire country, which happens to be right here in Victoria: The Great Ocean Road. 280 kilometres (about 175 miles) of two-lane road running along the southernmost coast of Australia. Windy enough to induce motion sickness and scenery gorgeous enough to make you run off the road if you're not careful with your rubbernecking. Koalas, wallabies, and fur seals abound. Sheer cliffs, limestone rock formations, lighthouses, waterfalls, and some of the greatest surfing in Australia.

We cannot wait to go back, hopefully during whale season. If (when!) you come and visit, you will be going here. So bring your motion-sickness bands and a good camera.

EASTER

Ahhh, Easter in Australia. A prime example of how these folks in the Southern Hemisphere have to come up with new and relevant ways to celebrate holidays that are seasonally appropriate in the Northern Hemisphere, and not so much here. So my take on Australian Easter? It's basically Halloween, without the costumes. But oh, the candy. Chocolate, really. As one friend put it, in his mind, Easter = chocolate. And boy, does it. Rows and rows, aisles and aisles of it at the stores. Bags of it at the schools and church. There are no jelly beans, no plastic eggs, no dyed eggs. There are chocolate eggs. And chocolate bunnies. And chocolate bilbies and wombats. No, seriously.

We couldn't NOT dye eggs, but Abe was sure to put his own Australian twist on the decor.

(That's Collingwood vs. Melbourne, for the majority of you whom are ignorant about the AFL.)

We had an egg hunt, of course. All the eggs were found...

As were a few well-loved items that had been MIA.

Happy Easter/Autumn!

Now on to winter...